“……All of them?”

‘What is this? Buying all the clothes?’

Elena covered her mouth in surprise while her eyes quickly scanned the dress shop. At a glance, there appeared to be dozens of dresses, and she was so shocked by the statement that all had been purchased that her reaction was delayed.

“Yes. Ah, there are several dresses that these ladies have been eyeing, correct? Please give those to them. They’re gifts from Elena.”

Joudro’s attempt to intimidate Elena instantly dissolved into foam.

“But you’ll still have enough clothes to send to the Grand Duke’s residence, right?”

“Indeed. The baby-like dresses that we couldn’t display due to limited space will finally shine.”

The tailor puffed out his chest at Lady Schmie’s words, as if to say not to worry.

“My goodness, what a pitiful situation.”

Elena responded to the tailor’s words with apparent sympathy. She should have been pleased to hear there were plenty more dresses, but instead she picked up on the fact that the dress shop had limited space.

“This dress shop seems rather small.”

“Yes.”

Though quite spacious, it was small for its reputation in the area. The tailor nodded readily.

With the money from selling all the dresses today, he now had hope of finding a separate building to move to.

“Then moving to a larger place would be good.”

Elena raised her eyebrows while looking at Joudro.

“Yes. Thanks to Lady Schmie’s deep generosity, I can now look for a separate building.”

The tailor expressed his gratitude once more, as if wanting to emphasize this point.

“Money from selling dresses should go back into making dresses. If you’re stingy with materials, good clothes won’t be produced.”

“That’s right. As expected from someone who leads a trading company, you understand well.”

When the tailor brightened considerably, Joudro’s expression hardened. She couldn’t grasp what Elena was trying to say.

“There’s a building I’ve purchased nearby. Go there.”

“A building with good air circulation……?”

“Yes. It’s my way of repaying you for providing this beautiful dress today. Just the first floor alone should be at least twice the size of this dress shop, so it should be sufficient. There’s also a café run by our trading company next door, so they’ll complement each other well.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

The tailor bowed deeply with tears in his eyes. He couldn’t hide his joy and didn’t know how to react to such a great favor he received for just one dress.

“Lady Joudro can use the money she saved today to buy accessories.”

Elena tapped Joudro’s shoulder lightly as she followed Lady Schmie, who had called for a carriage.

The ability to buy a few dresses?

I bought a building, kid.

“Thank you for today.”

Elena offered her thanks first as she alighted from the carriage with Lady Schmie. She had enjoyed trying on pretty clothes, and even the minor discord had been entertaining.

“Go inside and soak in warm water to relieve the rest of your fatigue.”

“Yes.”

After saying goodbye to Lady Schmie and heading to her room, Elena stretched her arms upward.

‘I feel like I’ll fall asleep the moment I lie down on the bed.’

She felt languid, as if she would sleep without a care in the world.

“It would be good to sleep early and wake up early.”

And she thought that the best place for a deep sleep would be beside Rudfelix.

Just as she was about to ask where Rudfelix was, the butler spotted Elena and approached her.

“Is His Highness the Grand Duke still in his office?”

“His Highness is in the reception room.”

“Who’s visiting?”

Elena asked casually, as someone had come to visit. However, her eyes hardened at the butler’s heavy tone and subsequent words.

“The Emeth family.”

It was the family of Sekreya, who had thrown down her aide’s clothes and disappeared.

Elena hesitated as she was about to open the door to the reception room.

“I came without changing my clothes.”

She thought it wouldn’t matter since she had worked as an aide in dresses many times before, but she didn’t want to enter wearing this outfit. Perhaps it was because the visitors were from the Emeth family.

Sekreya had left with a face betrayed by Rudfelix. Though her actions were quite reproachable when recalled, Elena needed to think calmly.

She leaned against the side of the door, thinking and rethinking how to deal with Sekreya.

After a while, her trembling eyelashes lowered further, concealing her eyes completely. Very firmly, so no one could tell what she was thinking.

Inside the reception room, Rudfelix faced Marquis Emeth and his daughter Sekreya.

“Since my precious daughter worked directly as an aide, I must scrutinize this matter thoroughly.”

Marquis Emeth flared his nostrils with excitement and glared as if about to strike. In contrast, Rudfelix dealt with him in his usual neat manner. Calmly and indifferently, as if nothing had happened.

“Despite working properly, she wasn’t recognized, and throughout her time as an aide, she was discriminated against.”

Sekreya, seated beside him, kept her mouth tightly shut and leaned on her father while glaring at Rudfelix.

“The Emeth family demands compensation from the Raion family. The rest will be handled according to the law.”

Marquis Emeth couldn’t hide his discomfort. He was fuming because his daughter had not only been denied proper treatment but had also suffered discrimination.

“I always thought there must be a reason why aides change frequently in the Grand Duke’s household. I wasn’t even surprised when Sekreya said she couldn’t continue. But when my daughter said she would return because she felt sorry for the Grand Duke’s situation, how admirable was that? And then open discrimination? What nonsense is discrimination in this day and age.”

The Marquis shouted thunderously. Leaning on her strong support, Sekreya looked at Rudfelix.

‘Let’s see what he has to say.’

She had loved him, but he had betrayed her feelings, so he needed to pay the price.

‘Why did I use your name to drive the trading company master to his death?’

She did it because he didn’t appreciate what a capable and remarkable woman she was. But he tried to use that to hang her. Sekreya trembled with a sense of betrayal and immediately called her father, telling him everything that had happened. She claimed she had worked hard but wasn’t recognized, and that dishonor had been cast upon her despite her efforts for the Grand Duke.

Rudfelix tilted his head, and the sunset covered half his face. As his expression became hidden, making his thoughts unreadable, Marquis Emeth lowered his tense shoulders.

Since he knew his daughter better than anyone, he half believed she had done something wrong out of her own greed. But his daughter was his precious jewel. He pampered her, so how dare some stern man get angry at her!

The Marquis maintained that even if Sekreya had done something wrong, she should be embraced with a broad mind. Such a pretty and lovely child shouldn’t be criticized for her mistakes but praised for her efforts. He could handle any wrongdoings himself.

“Even if you apologize now, it’s useless. We absolutely will not let this go.”

As Rudfelix remained silent, Marquis Emeth was about to stand up.

“It seems you’re keeping your mouth shut because you hate to apologize, but we must leave.”

“How much is the compensation claim?”

The Marquis, who had half-raised his buttocks, heavily sat back down.

He looked at Grand Duke Rudfelix, wondering if he had heard the question about the amount correctly. His head returned to its original position.

That look in his eyes suggested he would pay any amount. It meant he was admitting everything the Marquis had said.

‘As I thought.’

Though something felt off, the Marquis believed Rudfelix was readily agreeing because Sekreya had done her job well.

“Hmm. Given my past relationship with the Grand Duke, I’ve estimated a reasonable amount.”

An amount enough to buy a castle.

For the grand ducal family, such an amount wasn’t even a large sum.

“If you’re willing to pay, I’ll take that as an admission of everything.”

Marquis Emeth looked at Grand Duke Rudfelix with displeasure, his lips twitching. Sekreya, who was about to stand up first, noticed a skirt through the slightly open door.

“There’s nothing incorrect.”

Rudfelix’s indifferent tone.

“It’s as you said, Marquis. I discriminated.”

As he realized someone was standing outside the reception room, Sekreya’s head turned as well. Admitting to discrimination? However, Grand Duke Rudfelix didn’t add any details about how or where he had discriminated.

Marquis Emeth’s mouth fell open at Rudfelix’s tersely ended statement.

He barely concealed his desire to ask ‘Is that all?’ with a fake cough.

Unable to make more of a fuss about the discrimination claim, he waited for what would come next.

Rudfelix was indifferently examining the compensation claim. Finally, unable to bear it anymore, Marquis Emeth showed his discomfort.

“Do you have nothing more to say?”

The Marquis closed his mouth, taken aback that Rudfelix had said exactly what he wanted to say. His mood sank further as Grand Duke Rudfelix simply acknowledged the complaints he had relayed based on what Sekreya had told him. And now he was asking if there was nothing more to say? Marquis Emeth twitched his lips and snorted.

“Then it’s my turn.”

This was the signal that Rudfelix’s counterattack had begun. Quiet perceptively placed a stack of documents on the table.

He placed the originals in front of Rudfelix and copies in front of Marquis Emeth before stepping back.

Marquis Emeth made a “Khmm” sound and glanced down at the papers.

“These are the results of Sekreya’s handling of the task of arranging jobs for the residents of Ephraim territory.”

Since it concerned Sekreya’s work, Marquis Emeth picked up the copy and read the contents carefully.